Safe and Sound

Derek’s safely at his new base overseas.  His deployment is 6 days in, only 174 more to go.  I’m not allowed to say what base he stationed at now or what his job currently is, but I do get to hear from him at least once a week.
 In other good news, our truck is not completely totaled from the accident. It’s fixable and should be back to us within a few weeks.
 
Meanwhile, my political rants have been severely affected by our move and the busy aire I have found myself in. I’ve been trying to find a passionate stance to argue for, but my desire to tirade has gone by the wayside since Derek left. I apologize to my Xanga subscribers, the first few weeks are the hardest. I’ll be back to my argumentative self in no time. We are now staying in my mother-in-law’s home  while Derek is away and they’ve been so very helpful. We try and pass the time with errands and reading endless rounds of Dr. Seuss books.

I miss him terribly already.  At night when I lie alone in bed, I can almost feel him breathing next to me and my heart aches…. But I’ll save that for my private entries.  I’ve posted about forty pictures on my photobucket site from the past seven years of Derek and I knowing each other, as well as some cute here and there’s of the kids.

On a different note,  please send money now and save the children from having to live in boxes.

CRASH!
 
  This morning, my husband and I left Indiana on the two hour drive to Dayton. He had to be there at 9:30 to get ready for the deployment plane.  Not thinking  I would really come across anyone I needed to impress, I wore my warm and comfy house slippers on the road trip. It had snowed 5 inches overnight and was still coming down pretty hard. On the trip, Derek and I were laughing and joking around while our son slept in his car seat in the back.  I was in the midst of loading songs from the computer to Derek’s IPOD when we skid on the ice. Derek’s police training in ice driving probably saved our lives, alongside the helpful hand of God.  We skid off the eastbound lanes, barreled across the median, flew threw the air and landed HARD in the oncoming traffic lane. We slid across that lane and the driver’s side hit guard rail of the bridge we’d just crossed and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the approaching semi. I gripped my eyes  closed as tightly as I could and felt something hit. When I opened my eyes, we were back  in the middle of the median facing the eastbound lane.  My husband and I grabbed each other frantically overlooking the other person for injuries, then turned to the baby. His  wool car seat cover had stopped the flying coffee cup from landing on him and  bounced the flying debris (both of our glasses) to the opposite seat. Derek and I hit our heads but didn’t have any major injuries and when the truck was flying, the baby scratched his nose with his fingernails.  (which made his father have a heart attack and demand an ambulance check him out.) The entire driver’s side of the  truck was demolished and the rear driver’s tire is non-existent. It was with much effort that Derek was able to pry his crushed door open and the entire rear passenger side bumper was shredded.  But we walked away unscathed. Shaken, but unscathed. The semi driver was (of course) unhurt and  had minor damage to his hood where he hit us. What I still can’t fathom is *how* things happened the way they did. It seems to be against the law of physics  as to where the semi hit our truck and how we ended up in the median safely.  The only possible explanation I can say is God. Even the sheriff’s officer was baffled as to how we managed to  hit the way and places we did and not get hurt. So I’ve spent all day thanking God for sparing my family from harm and for giving me the insight to leave Caitlyn with her aunt at home today. Our laptop had coffee spilled all inside it and somehow it survived. (My previous laptop learned the day I bought it that liquids and electronics don’t mix.)   

 So my day which was supposed to be incredibly sad,  turned instantly into relief that we were all safe  after such an INSANE ordeal. My special edition Harley Davidson Ford F150 is almost completely totaled. (which breaks my heart) My mother in law said there was a 50/50 chance it wouldn’t be fixable, it looked as though the frame was bent. The other thing I’m thankful for was the sudden change of heart to not take my little plastic sedan today.
 My mother in law drove to pick us up and  took us the rest of the way to Dayton. Although Derek was two hours late to his flight, they hadn’t left yet. Apparently the plane he was supposed to take today had been stalled because of it’s last minute discovery of the *entire* tail needing to be replaced.  If any of you haven’t believed in God prior to now, add this to your list of “coincidences.” I should be in a hospital right now, but I’m simply nursing a few bruises and laughing at my goofy daughter running around the room.
 
 On the humorous side of the ordeal, the paramedics who helped me up into the ambulance  were making fun of my snow-soaked house slippers. The most I’ll have to pay for the truck is our five hundred dollar deductible. All the towing cost and liabilities for the semi’s damage were covered.
 So what I need from you all is to thank God for the wonderful things in your life. People always remember to blame Him for the things that go wrong in their lives, but rarely remember to thank Him when things go right. Yes, we could have seen this whole accident as something that went horribly wrong on a day with a horrible deployment. But what could be better than your loved one’s safety?

Busy Busy Bees
  Okay, this week will be so insanely crazy so there won’t be much of a posting for awhile.
 We’re moving  on Friday/Saturday and trying to keep the house clean while packing is getting under my skin. Caity was insanely sick yesterday so we took her to the ER clinic early Sunday morning. She’s got an inner ear infection which sounds peachy compared to what it did to her. The poor kid had a bloody nose, a malicious cough and a 102 degree fever.  On top of that, she’s HYPER as hell, so her bloody nose keeps dripping on/in the boxes mommy’s trying to pack. Meanwhile, Mommy’s trying to tape the box shut and Caity’s  trying to climb INTO it. *sighs* This’ll all be very funny  years from now when I can look back at it. Right now, it’s just stressful.
 Derek and I had our date on Saturday. I’m not allowed to go into detail about how mushy and sweet he was to me, but it was a wonderful night. I danced until I had blisters on my feet and I got a kiss at the end of the evening.
 Unfortunately, I couldn’t  get pictures of us, but take it from me, we looked great. (I’m allowed to be cocky if it’s true.)
 I’ll be checking my email from time to time, but primarily this week, I’ll be offline. If you need me, call.

Packing it in

We’re in the middle of packing up the house to move so I’m going to keep this short. Exhaustion decreases my phenomenal brain power.

I’m in heated debate with friens on the outcome of this election. Huckabee is looking grim which really breaks my heart.  McCain seems to be reaping the benefits of the split conservative vote between Romney and Huckabee.

I have no idea how McCain can POSSIBLY call himself a Republican. There’s NO way he’s a conservative and it irritates me when he poses himself upon the mantle of Reagan. He is nothing like Reagan and is so far left you can hardly see him on the scale anymore. He shares just about every viewpoint on his agenda with Hillary Clinton. As my friend stated, it would almost be better to have Hillary in the White House than McCain. If somone’s going to be screwing the hell out of our country, it might as well be blamed on a democrat. (I’m a little bitter about this whole thing.)

Another friend of mine stated “If the vote comes down between Clinton and McCain, I’d rather do a write-in for Mr. Potato Head.”

 Agreed.

 I know some of you disagree with my viewpoints, that’s okay. You’re all allowed to have your own opinion. I still love you all.

In other news, there’s some cute videos of the kids and  new pictures at our photobucket site: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j48/Life_by_us/

Presidential Progress

It didn’t seem possible at first, but Obama is really making headway. It makes me nervous because given a choice on the Dem ticket, I’d rather have Hillary. She’d be easier to beat.

Now that Giuliani’s out of the race, I have fewer concerns with the republican candidates. I’d be fine with whomever if it came down to  Huckabee or Romney but I personally am giving my vote to Huckabee.  No, it doesn’t have anything to do with  Romney’s faith. However, part of my pull towards Huckabee *IS* because of his faith. I love the idea of having a pastor as president.  Plus, He’s done so much for pro-life groups and children’s education.

Still undecided?

Check out Romney.

Check out Huckabee.

Unfortunately, the two most notorious conservative republican talkshow hosts (Limbaugh and Hannity) are pulling for Romney and talking down Huckabee. (It’s okay Sean, I still love you.) 

I’d read this in an email awhile ago and was recently forwarded it again.  I didn’t think it was terribly relevant in this election since  it was Hillary running, not Bill, but with all the  recent press conferences, I’ve changed my mind.  He’s made it very obvious he’s going to have as much involvement in his wife’s work as he possibly can. I found this interesting and thought I’d share.

Bill & Hillary, 1970

THE CLINTON’S MILITARY CAREER

Bill Clinton registers for the draft on September 08, 1964, accepting all contractual conditions of registering for the draft. Selective Service Number is 326 46 228. Bill Clinton classified 2-S on November 17, 1964 . Bill Clinton reclassified 1-A on March 20, 1968. Bill Clinton ordered to report for induction on July 28, 1969.

Bill Clinton refuses to report and is not inducted into the military.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1-D after enlisting in the United States Army Reserves on August 07, 1969, under authority of COL. E. Holmes. Clinton signs enlistment papers and takes oath of enlistment.

Bill Clinton fails to report to his duty station at the University of Arkansas ROTC, September 1969. Bill Clinton reclassified 1-A on October 30, 1969, as enlistment with Army Reserves is revoked by Colonel E. Holmes and Clinton now AWOL and subject to arrest under Public Law 90-40 (2) (a) registrant who has failed to report… remain liable for induction. Bill Clinton’s birth date lottery number is 311, drawn December 1, 1969, but anyone who has already been ordered to report for induction is INELIGIBLE!

Bill Clinton runs for Congress (1974), while a fugitive from justice under Public Law 90-40. Bill Clinton runs for Arkansas Attorney General (1976), while a fugitive from justice. Bill Clinton receives pardon on January 21, 1977, from President Carter. Bill Clinton becomes the FIRST PARDONED FEDERAL FELON ever to serve as President of the United States. All these facts come from Freedom of Information requests, public laws, and various books that have been published, and have not been refuted by Clinton.

 After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, President Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1995 bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed five U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, which killed 224 and injured 5,000, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 and injured 39 U.S. sailors, Clinton promised that those responsible be hunted down and punished.

Maybe if Clinton had kept those promises, an estimated 3,000 people in New York and Washington, DC. who are now dead would be alive today. THINK ABOUT IT! It is a strange turn of events. Hillary gets $8 Million for her memoir. Bill gets about $12 Million for his memoir. This from two people who spent 8 years being unable to recall anything about past events while under oath.

Headlines

So many things irritated me on the news this morning.
First of all it was this:

Three Pigs Story Judged ‘Offensive to Muslims’

Some online educational website decided to do a remake of the three little pigs and called it “The Three Little Cowboy Builders.” and it too was rendered “offensive”  to builders. Why was it offensive?

The judges’ remarks, reported
on the education technology Web site Merlin John Online, included: “Is
it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown
down, and builders are like pigs?“

Oh dear me. Are we  really such a stupid mass of people that we can’t understand the difference between an old fairy tale for children and someone who’s trying to insult us? I suppose next, the cow can’t jump over the moon in our elementary schools because she might have mad-cow disease? Teachers can’t tell the tale “Gift of the Magi” because the gifts had high lead content….
  Fortunately, I read this in the Times of London, so it doesn’t openly reflect on US stupidity. I love our country and I’m proud to live here, but the liberals really have to go. maybe we can deport them to Canada. Didn’t they all say when Bush was re-elected that they were all moving? Can we see some movement on this promise? Especially anyone in arms with the ACLU.

 Next headline that pissed me off?

Kansas Baptist Church Intends to Picket Heath Ledger’s Funeral Because He Played Gay Character

 Yes, the same group I’ve already complained about for protesting at a soldiers funeral is now going to protest at Heath Ledger’s memorial service. (his actual funeral is being held in Australia.) I’m seriously hoping the Patriot Guard Riders will be there to hold them at bay. The guy was an actor and sure, he played a gay character. But it’s a FUNERAL. I can’t believe that some people honestly feel they have the right to disrespect the dead (as well as their living friends and families) by picketing at their funeral…. These people are the lowest scums.

Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your children to be sane. That is all.

Moving right along

To occupy my time, I’ve been online furniture shopping. Derek will return from his pre-deployment training on Sunday.  I’ve been at his parent’s house this week and they’ve been wonderful to me. I’ve had hugs when I needed them and actual big kid conversations. I enjoy these conversations so much more than my typical, “Does Caity need to potty?” (Which rouses a resounding, “NO!”) 

Here’s a cute kid laughing:

New pics and videos at: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j48/Life_by_us/

By the way, I’m pretty bummed that Thompson dropped out. He had great things to say, he just didn’t put them into snappy one liners like everyone else has.  Oh well, that makes my choices clear. I’m going with Huckabee. Aside from all his other qualities, Chuck Norris likes him! What else do I need to know?

Something New

  Derek’s leaving on Saturday afternoon for his training in Germany. I know, it’s only ten days. But I hate it. It’s simply a precursor to a six month stab in the heart while he’s deployed. I’ll be spending the ten days while he’s away training at my mom-in-law’s house and getting an idea of how to arrange my and the kids’ room. Plus, they’ve been remodeling their house and I’m hoping to try my hand at that. It’ll give me something to do without thinking too much about the upcoming  6 months. I think Derek’s starting to realize how little time we have left. He holds the kids at almost every opportunity and offers to go splurge on ice cream every time I turn around.
Like father, like son:

  We looked at the pet shop the other day and I’m in love with a maltipoo. Let me clarify something first: I am NOT a dog person, I’m even more NOT a tiny dog person. But this fluffy white snowball terrorized my daughter in the cutest ways and I was instantly sold. They were best friends within the span of five minutes and if I’d had the four hundred dollars to spend on the stupid AKC fluffball, I would’ve. I’ve not seen Caity that excited since the last time we were at a grandma’s house. Too bad it’s such an ugly little cutie. Derek misses having a dog and we gave our last one away mostly because she was so big. So he believes a teensy dog would be better. I personally believe that four hundred dollars is not the price of a dog I want to own.

 So TAPS (the Ghost Hunters from SCIFI) were here and Derek and I both got to do security for them. I’ve posted several pictures on my Photobucket site: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j48/Life_by_us
 Also at photo bucket is a video of Caity singing to the baby, and another of Aidan laughing and cooing.  You know I’m a freak for my kids. You should be over it by now.

More eventually.

Date Night

I’ve quickly become overwhelmed with crap to do.  Between Derek’s pre-deployment outprocessing, planning to move and  daily life, I feel a HUGE boulder on my shoulders.  I usually handle stress well, but this time, I’m dying a little. I lost Derek to an overseas trip once before and I never wanted it to happen again. I felt my heart was ripped away from me.  Unfortunately, the military is bigger than I am and is more successful at getting Derek to do as they say.

 Meanwhile, a very wonderful friend of mine from church is hosting a Christian date/dinner night at the Knights of Columbus hall and has offered Derek and I free tickets. (Normally a 35 dollar value, now yours absoultely free! Not sold in stores.) The date night is the  Saturday before Valentine’s Day and I’ve pulled a favor with an FCC coworker to watch the kids. Military wives are wonderful at understanding when you need a date night. So we get to dance, eat and canoodle the week before my best friend leaves. I won’t get into all the mushy crap about how my heart is breaking or the stars don’t shine as brigthly, but I’m still gonna think it in my head!!!

  Tonight is the TAPS/Ghost Hunter’s actual investigation of the creepy old buildings on base. Derek’s running security and is hoping to get to meet the guys in advance. (he promises not to be too much of a squealy fangirl.) Then TAPS will come back on the 16th for the big reveal and tell us if our base is haunted or not.

   Caity’s potty training is having small moment of disgusting triumph. When we suceed, it’s exciting and we dance and eat cookies. However, it means I have to clean the baby potty. EW. The things we do for love.

Sexism or setup?

I do not share political viewpoints with Hillary Clinton. I do not agree with any of the proposals she has lined up  as a presidential hopeful. However, I feel she should get a fair opportunity to voice those opinions.

    Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was about to deliver a line that has become a centerpiece of her campaign since her loss in Iowa.
“Everybody in this race is talking about change. But what does that mean?”
“Iron my shirt!” yelled a man, who stood up in the middle of a
jammed and stuffy auditorium at a high school in Salem, N.H., and held
up a yellow sign with the same text. He repeated it over and over.

Mrs. Clinton asked for the lights to be turned on, and the shirt man was removed along with another man who had stood up too.

 I’ve got a fair sense of humor, so I see the comedy in these men’s actions, but it was also inappropriate. The men were supposedly some radio jockeys pulling a stunt.

Conspiracy thoughts: One of the columns I read said they saw pro-Clinton bumper stickers on these men. So paid publicity stunt? Unrelated radio gag? Who knows.

Either way, I’m surprised as HELL that Hillary is doing as poorly as she is right now.  I know we’re not that far into the caucuses yet but I really expected her to be leading the pack at this point. I’m also surprised at Giuliani’s numbers being as low as they are.  I suppose the East coasters haven’t had their say yet,  but it goes to show that the media skews  poll numbers to suit their needs.